Malchus had been fed when among the Romans, but Nessus had had nothing from the morning when he had been upset in the Rhone four days before, save a manchet of bread which he had found in one of the tents he had entered.

Surveying the country round carefully, the keen eye of the Arab perceived some light smoke curling up at the foot of the hills on their right, and they at once directed their course towards it.

An hour's walking brought them within sight of a native village.
As soon as they perceived it they dropped on their hands and knees and proceeded with caution until within a short distance of it.

They were not long in discovering a flock of goats browsing on the verdure in some broken ground a few hundred yards from the village.

They were under the charge of a native boy, who was seated on a rock near them.